


the americans

by bluebeholder



Series: the accidental epic [48]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Character(s) of Color, Female Character of Color, Gen, Major Original Character(s), Politics, Spies & Secret Agents, i cannot believe i get to use that tag!, i'm so hype
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 07:12:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16656595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebeholder/pseuds/bluebeholder
Summary: A select group of very discontented American Aurors travel to China to meet with the leaders of a secret alliance to fight Grindelwald.There's a real war coming, and the Americans - as usual - refuse to be left out.Takes placeduring"until the day's end."





	the americans

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just out here binge-posting FB fic, don't mind me.
> 
> Takes place immediately after the attack on Rome in “until the day’s end.” Want to play catch-up on the plot threads here? Read the following stories!
> 
>  **Seraphina and Ya Zhou** : the politicians, the conspiracy, the visit, the chairwoman  
>  **Winfrith and Rosa** : the texas case, the department, the chicago case, the houston massacre, the president

“You know, I never thought I’d go to China,” Winfrith says, gazing around at the elegant meeting room in which she and her companions had been seated.

On the other side of the table, Edison has stars in his eyes. “We’re so lucky.”

“We are not lucky, we all just lost our jobs,” Rosa says with a roll of her eyes. But she softens a moment later with a faint smile. “But…being here is pretty damn lucky.”

Realistically, Winfrith’s letter to former MACUSA President Seraphina Picquery shouldn’t have gone anywhere at all. Yet, just a few days ago, Winfrith received a reply in the form of an express invitation to meet Seraphina Picquery in China, in the wizarding capitol of Canton. On arrival she’d discovered that she had company in the form of Rosa Alvarez and Edison Mattina, two other discontented Aurors who lost their positions under Grimsditch for connections to the previous administration.

Rosa used to be the Regional Director out of Houston, Texas. She’d personally fought Grindelwald’s followers—most notably in the Houston Massacre—and was a force to be reckoned with. In days long past, she and Winfrith had crossed paths, but this was the first time in years Winfrith had really seen Rosa. She looks older and harder than she should, withdrawn and unsmiling. She’d lost her partner and one of her closest friends to the fighting. No wonder she’s in her current state.

Although Winfrith wasn’t personally familiar with Edison until now, she knew he had been a rising star in Picquery’s administration. There were rumors he was being groomed for a potential position as Director of Magical Security but, when Picquery lost the election, he’d undergone a swift demotion and vanished into obscurity. Apparently, though, he had been active enough to warrant presence here today.

The door opens abruptly and Seraphina Picquery strides into the room. Winfrith leans back, surprised: she’d never seen the President…former President…wearing so much _color_. “Good to see you all again,” she says, taking a seat at the large table.

“You too, Pr—um—” Edison fumbles with the title and stops. His cheeks are red.

“Seraphina,” she says. “Just Seraphina.”

Winfrith thinks about what a monumental adjustment this was going to be, sighs, and accepts it. “Seraphina. What are we doing here?”

She glances around at all of them. “You tell me,” she says. “All three of you sent me letters out of the blue claiming the most outrageous things. That President Grimsditch has been removing everyone he suspects of still being loyal to me from office, that people have been arrested on false charges for treason, that it sounds like America is getting ready to go to war…”

“It does,” Edison says. “I hear things in MACUSA. Not good things.”

Winfrith looked around warily. “Seraphina…is this a conversation we should be having here?”

“It is,” Seraphina says. “If you’re going to do what I think you three are going to do, and go against the wishes of your country…you need some powerful backup.”

As if on cue, the door opens again to admit Chairwoman Ya Zhou, in all her robes of state. Beside her is an African woman Winfrith doesn’t recognize, who carries herself with every inch the confidence of the Chairwoman. 

Rosa gasps softly. “No.”

“Yes,” the Chairwoman says. She sits down beside Seraphina, the image of poise and grace and power and oh Giles Corey preserve them they are in so much trouble, aren’t they? The other woman takes a seat on the Chairwoman’s other side, just watching, for now.

“Things are bad,” Seraphina says plainly. “You know about what happened in Rome.”

“Who doesn’t?” Winfrith asks with a snort. She leans forward, elbows on the table. “But what have we got to do with it?”

The Chairwoman studies Winfrith coolly. Winfrith holds her head high and meets her eyes. She is a very good Occlumens; though she recognizes the tells of a practiced Legilimens, Winfrith won’t be beaten. “We have no time to play games anymore,” she says.

“Did we ever?” Rosa cuts in. “Things have been bad for _so long._ I’ve been fighting on the front lines for years, more than any other American Auror. And now that _bastard_ we’re calling president has pulled everything—pretending the war isn’t happening, arresting people—”

Her rage melts into tears and she covers her face with both hands. Quietly Winfrith sidles closer to put an arm around her fellow. She looks at Seraphina as Rosa silently sobs into her shoulder. “You’d better have a good explanation.”

“Aurors don’t play political games,” Seraphina says. She shakes her head. There’s gray, Winfrith notices, showing in her blonde hair. “Most politicians aren’t Aurors. What you see isn’t what they see. It takes time to build a movement like this, to gain that momentum.”

“It’s something we’ve been working on for years,” the African woman says, beautiful voice heavily accented. She smiles slightly at the Aurors. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Tiwalade, head of the N’nonmiton of Dahomey, here in President Agonglo’s stead.”

Winfrith’s eyes go very wide. “It’s an honor…”

Dahomey’s female Aurors are famous. They’re well-respected, highly disciplined, and very powerful. Most people call them Amazons, but their true title is N’nonmiton. They’re…well, they’re what every other force of Aurors hopes to be. They’re legendary.

“So…China and Dahomey…?” Edison asked.

“Right,” Winfrith said. “Keep explaining.”

And it all unfolds. The three women tell a story—a story spanning two long years of difficult, complicated, ugly work, trying to build something from nothing. Trying to do what most of the world will not: confront Grindelwald.

“His words are as dangerous as any,” Tiwalade says, a faint scowl on her face. “Oppression is oppression, no matter where it’s found.”

There’s an alliance, now, a secret and shadowy thing. Twenty or so states, joined in a common purpose to deal with what the great powers of the world will not. And now…

“We don’t have America on our side,” Seraphina says. “But we could use some American Aurors.”

Winfrith narrows her eyes. “You want us to join you.”

“When the time comes, yes,” the Chairwoman says. She exchanges a look with Seraphina, who nods with a faint smile. “One of your old friends is with us in this.”

It takes a moment for the meaning of that to sink in, but then Winfrith can’t stop her grin. “Oh, if that son of a bitch is on board, I am too,” she says.

“Who?” Edison asks.

“Assuming the Confederation doesn’t crucify them both, we’ll have Graves and his Obscurial working with us when we take the fight to Grindelwald,” Seraphina says. “We have plans you don’t need to know about, but rest assured that—”

“I don’t care,” Rosa says. She sits up straight, mouth trembling a little but hands steady where they rest on the table. “I don’t care how many people you have or what weapons we’re carrying. You’re taking the fight to Grindelwald? You’re actually going to try to kill him?”

“Yes,” Tiwalade says. “We’re finally going to try. Are you with us?”

“I’ve been waiting since nineteen twenty-nine,” Rosa says. “There’s an old due I need to pay.”

Winfrith glances over at Edison. He’s thinking hard. “How many more will you need?” he asks.

“As many as you can bring,” Seraphina says.

“Good,” Edison says. “You can count on me.”

“And me,” Winfrith says. She looks around the table at all of the people assembled there and thinks—well, with all these people, maybe they’ve got half a chance after all.

Even if they don’t, Winfrith is going to go down swinging.

**Author's Note:**

> It’s really true that Dahomey had an all-female military regiment, highly respected and REALLY good at their jobs. Called N'Nonmiton, “our mothers”, they were wealthy, politically powerful, disciplined, and considered better at the art of war than their male counterparts. Estimates say that at the height of Dahomey’s power when it was at its most militarized, they made up a solid third of the entire army.
> 
> If you’re visualizing Danai Gurira when thinking of Tiwalade, you are doing it 100% right.


End file.
